Do you worry about getting older?
Wednesday 09 October 2024
Face it, everybody starts to at some time in their lives. And once they have, it never goes away. For some, it can become an obsession. It comes to us all. One day, you look around you and realise that all things are growing older, not younger. The Buddhist will tell you that you are simply witnessing perpetual change and that it's a beautiful thing. That's OK until one day something hurts that didn't used to hurt. Or there's an action that used to be easy to perform but is now impossible or increasingly difficult. Then you might question whether it's such a beautiful thing. Understandable.
It's what you do about getting older that can make all the difference. Your mindset. Some people get frantic, and yearn to go back to the past. What can they do, what can they take, what can they apply, to replicate things as they were? More make-up? Liposuction? Drugs? More weight training?
Your choice. But our philosophy is that as we're all in the same boat, whatever our respective ages, let's row together, celebrating ageing as a pathway to experience, wisdom and continuous achievement. That's why there is always satisfaction in earning the next belt or grade. And of course, getting it means training to another level, so our fitness automatically gets a booster.
When we're young, we believe we're immortal. We seem to be able to chuck anything down our throats - junk food, booze, recreational stimuli (you know what that means!), burn the midnight oil at parties, and bounce back in the morning with no more than a hangover (it isn't actually true, of course, you pay for everything in this life, even if you don't realise it for years to come, but what the heck, tomorrow's another day). But as you age, what you put into your body becomes more important. Now we're in no position to give anyone medical advice, so if your doctor prescribes a particular drug for your health, for example, we have no comment. Let's instead focus on the areas we know give you a better fighting chance of at least avoiding possible obstacles to good health. In a couple of words, eat fresh. Fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, fresh meat, fresh fish, raw nuts. Choose where you can to avoid food that is canned, packaged, dried, refined, bottled and processed. No one can claim they are guaranteed to affect your health adversely. But we do know that they're likely to contain additives, colourings, sweeteners, chemicals, taste enhancers (read addictive, possibly), and preservatives. That's an awful lot for a body to cope with. Eating fresh is the nearest you can get to natural bodily input.
Work on your friendships. Nothing boosts the spirits like good old camaraderie. Sometimes simply called having a laugh. But a happy mind does fantastic things for a happy body.
Beware of quick fixes. When people gain unwanted or unnecessary weight, there's naturally a wish for that magic pill that just makes it all go away. But there's an old Northern saying: “You don't get owt for nowt”. Remember, drugs don't cure, they deceive. There are always potential side effects. In every packet of every drug, there's always a leaflet, telling you what they are. So, you might think instead, lots of strenuous exercise, that'll bring the weight down. Sorry to disappoint you, but only for a few hours. True, good exercise is likely to improve your metabolism, meaning your body processes its food intake more efficiently - better digestion, better absorption of nutrients and rejection of waste. But there's only one way to lose weight effectively - diet. Interestingly, the word diet comes from the Greek word diaita, meaning way of life. So, the good news is that it doesn't necessarily mean eating less, simply eating better food. Comes back to eating fresh!
If you're feeling good, breathing well (which comes from regular exercise), if you're always learning something new, if there's a sparkle in your eyes, if you're having a good laugh, chances are you're ageing well. But try not to spoil it by celebrating with too many bottles of champagne!